Portal (video game)

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Portal is a single-player first-person shooter action game / video puzzle game developed by Valve. The game was released in a bundle package known as The Orange Box for PC and Xbox 360 on October 10th, 2007, and for the PlayStation 3 on December 3rd, 2007. The Microsoft Windows version of the game is also available for download separately through Steam.^[1] The game consists of a series of puzzles which must be solved by teleporting the player's character and other simple objects using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. The goal of each puzzle is to reach an exit point, represented by an elevator. The "portal gun" and the unusual physics it creates are the emphasis of this game.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 3 Enemies 4 Gameplay 5 Development 6 Portal: Still Alive 7 Sequel 8 Soundtrack 9 Critical reception 10 Trivia 11 Notes and references 12 External links

[edit] Plot

Main article: Portal storyline

[edit] Characters

• Chell
• GLaDOS
• Weighted Companion Cube

[edit] Enemies

• Aperture Science
  • GLaDOS
  • Sentry Turret
  • Rocket Sentry

[edit] Gameplay

In Portal, the player controls Chell (as she is named in the game credits), a test subject in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. Gameplay revolves around the "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" (also known as the "Portal Gun", or ASHPD, the acronym), a handheld device that can create an inter-spatial portal between flat planes, allowing instant travel and a visual and physical connection between any two different locations in 3D space. Portal ends are restricted to planar surfaces, but if the portal ends are on different planes, bizarre twists in geometry and gravity can occur, such as the player walking into the portal through a wall and "falling" up out of the floor several feet behind where she started. An important aspect is that objects retain their momentum as they pass through the portals: an object that falls some distance before entering a portal will continue moving at that same speed out of the other end. This allows the player to launch objects, including Chell, up to higher levels that lack appropriate portal surfaces. Only two portal ends may be open at a time, one orange and one blue in color. If a new portal end is created, it replaces the previous portal of the same color. Either color may be used as an entrance or exit portal. The portal gun is also used to pick up objects in a similar manner to the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator ( Half-Life 2 ), although it cannot propel objects or pull them from afar like the Gravity Gun can.

Guided by a supercomputer named GLaDOS (an acronym for Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, voiced by Ellen McLain), players use the "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" to perform a variety of tests, such as creating portals to knock over turrets and moving to a previously unreachable area.

In their initial preview of Portal, GameSpot gave an example of a gameplay scenario: In other situations, the player may be under fire by a gun sentry. So all the player needs to do is shoot a portal open over the gun, then shoot a portal open beneath a crate, then watch the crate fall through the hole and crush the gun. It gets even crazier, and the diagrams shown in the trailer showed some incredibly crazy things that the player can attempt, like creating a series of Portals so that the player is constantly chasing herself.^[2]

Two additional modes are unlocked upon completion of the main game.^[3] In Challenge mode, the player has to get through a test in either as little time, with the least number of portals, or as few footsteps as possible. In Advanced mode, the hardest levels of the game are made even harder with the addition of more obstacles and hazards.^[4][5]

[edit] Development

Portal is Valve's professionally-developed spiritual successor to the freeware Narbacular Drop, the 2005 independent game released by students of the DigiPen; the original Drop team are now all employed at Valve.^[6][7] Certain elements, like the orange/blue system of identifying the two different portal ends a player can have open at a time (one connecting to the other), have been retained. The key difference in the signature portal mechanic between the two games is that in Narbacular Drop the player can place a portal on a wall visible through another portal, whereas in Portal, the HPD cannot fire a portal shot through a portal; however, the HPD can fire a portal shot while the player is standing in a portal.

The Portal team worked with Half-Life series writer Marc Laidlaw on fitting the game into the series' plot.^[8] Erik Wolpaw and Chet Faliszek of the classic gaming commentary/comedy website Old Man Murray had been hired by Valve and put to work on the dialogue for Portal.^[7]

Portal, like other recent Valve releases, includes a commentary feature.

The face of Chell is modeled after Alesia Glidewell, an American freelance filmmaker.^[9]

The Anger Eyeball sphere is voiced by recording artist Mike Patton, the lead vocalist from Faith No More.

[edit] Portal: Still Alive

Portal: Still Alive is an exclusive Xbox Live Arcade game released in October 2008, and features new levels and achievements. The additional content is drawn from levels from the map based on "Portal: The Flash Version" by We Create Stuff and contains no additional story-related levels. According to Valve spokesman Doug Lombardi, Valve had been in discussion with Microsoft to bring Portal to the Xbox Live Marketplace, but was limited by the amount bandwidth that Microsoft was willing to allow for such content.

[edit] Sequel

Swift stated that future Portal development will depend on the community's reaction, saying, "We're still playing it by ear at this point, figuring it out if we want to do multiplayer next, or Portal 2, or release map packs." On January 31, 2008, Lombardi confirmed that "more Portal" will be forthcoming, and promised more additional content would not just be "more puzzles"; an interview with Kim Swift on Feb.21, 2008 revealed that a full sequel, Portal 2, will be coming. Swift also stated that the team tried a Portal multiplayer variant, but admitted "It's less fun than you think."

On June 10, 2008, Kotaku reported that Valve was seeking voice actors for the character role Aperture Science CEO Cave Johnson, who, according to the Aperture Science website mentioned above, is very dead. This suggests that the second game is a prequel to the events of Portal. However, a later update suggests it could be a sequel, with Johnson as another AI in addition to GLaDOS.

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: Portal soundtrack

[edit] Critical reception

As of December 31, 2007 on the review aggregator Game Rankings, the Windows version of the game had an average score of 90% based on 19 reviews.^[10] On Metacritic (as of February 2, 2009), the Windows version had an average score of 90 out of 100, based on 28 reviews, while users gave it a 9.6 out of 10 based on 1644 reviews.^[11]

[edit] Trivia

• To celebrate Christmas 2007, the ApertureScience.com's contents has been added with camera footage detailing "07 Holiday Vault", with a Christmas hat-wearing Weighted Companion Cube, the Cake with white frosting, three red socks hanging over a fireplace, with the Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal logos on them, 5 supply crates with an inactive Sentry Turret behind them, a Christmas version of the symbol for a Weighted Storage Cube being delivered hanging above the fireplace (obviously alluding to Santa Claus jumping inside a chimney to deliver presents), the Episode 2 Garden Gnome used to get the "Little Rocket Man" achievement, and a Christmas-themed version of "Still Alive" playing. Under the Christmas tree there are several presents wrapped in orange paper in reference to the Orange Box. On the tree there are ornaments of the characters from Team Fortress 2. In the fireplace there is the Gordon's Crowbar. The video ends with the message, "HAPPY <HOLIDAY NAME HERE>." The item is still there as of December 2009. Also if you wait long enough, the gnome is not on it's original perch but instead in front of the camera.
• Alesia Glidewell's likeness was also used for Zoey from Left 4 Dead, but it went through four designs before the final.^[12][13][14]
• It is speculated that Portal takes place during the Seven Hour War, but it is unknown for now.
• There have been many rumors that the G-man can be sighted walking around the Facility but they have only lead to fakes by using Garry's Mod or in-game cheats.
• The type of cake promised to the player is a Black Forest cake.
• It is likely that the 3-tier program idea came from the files tier0.lib through tier3.lib that are found in the Half-Life 2 source code from the Source SDK
• in the TF2 bpt random name list, one name is "Aperture project XR7" this might be something to do with portal 2

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

Official

• The Orange Box official website
• Portal on Steam
• ApertureScience.com (viral advertising; alternate reality game)

Press

• Portal at 1UP.com
• Portal at Wired (Magazine)

Real world subjects
Half-Life game series		Half-Life: Day One (demo) · Half-Life · Half-Life: Opposing Force · Half-Life: Blue Shift · Half-Life: Decay · Half-Life: Source Half-Life 2 · Half-Life 2: Episode One · Half-Life 2: Episode Two · Half-Life 2: Episode Three
Portal game series		Portal: First Slice (demo) · Portal · Portal: Still Alive (Xbox 360) · Portal 2
Cut games		Prospero · Half-Life: Uplink (demo) · Get Your Free TVs! (technology demo) · Half-Life 2 Beta (leaked content) · Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (technology demo)
Other related games		Codename: Gordon · Deathmatch Classic · Half-Life 2: Deathmatch · Half-Life 2: Survivor (arcade) · Mods · Narbacular Drop
Game soundtracks		Half-Life soundtrack · Half-Life: Opposing Force soundtrack · Half-Life: Blue Shift soundtrack · Half-Life 2 soundtrack · Half-Life 2: Episode One soundtrack · Portal soundtrack · Half-Life 2: Episode Two soundtrack
Game engines		GoldSrc · Source
Other softwares		Source SDK · Steam · Valve Hammer Editor
Game developer companies		Gearbox Software · Valve Corporation
Production staff (composers)		Stephen Bahl · Kelly Bailey · Jonathan Coulton · Chris Jensen
Production staff (conceptual artists)		Viktor Antonov · Ted Backman · Stephen Bahl · Kelly Bailey · Jeremy Bennett · Dhabih Eng · Moby Francke · Chuck Jones · Eric Kirchmer · Tri Nguyen
Production staff (writers)		Matthew Armstrong · Stephen Bahl · Chet Faliszek · Rob Heironimus · Brian Hess · Kristy Junio · Marc Laidlaw · David Mertz · Randy Pitchford · Erik Wolpaw
Production staff (other)		Mike Harrington · Doug Lombardi · Gabe Newell · Randy Pitchford
Voice actors		John Aylward · Adam Baldwin · Robert Culp · Merle Dandridge · Michelle Forbes · Jim French · Louis Gossett Jr. · Robert Guillaume · Mary Kae Irvin · Kathy Levin · John Patrick Lowrie · Ellen McLain · Lani Minella · Mike Patton · Harry S. Robins · Michael Shapiro · Jon St. John · Tony Todd
Character models		Ted Backman · Kelly Bailey · Alésia Glidewell · Eric Kirchmer · Jamil Mullen
Other		ApertureScience.com · Commentary notes · Development of Half-Life 2 · Half-Life High Definition Pack · Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar · Mr. Valve · The Orange Box · The Orange Box Achievements · "Still Alive"